Devotion - Tuesday, March 14

Serving as pastor in an academic community has many joys.  It also has tremendous benefits.  Yesterday, the Philosophy and Religion Department brought Dr. Amy-Jill Levine to campus. I got to hear her talk about Jesus, Gender, and Sexuality.

I have heard Dr. Levine speak before.  And every time I am amazed at how much she is able to catch that I am not.  Things like - there are no names given for the women who feature heavily into so many of Jesus' stories.  Or - we think of the times in which Jesus lived as horrible for women, but Martha is described in the gospels as being the owner of her own home.  And - the woman caught in adultery is not in some gravel pit about to be stoned, she is brought to Jesus in the assembly hall.

As fond as I am at pointing out how many assumptions are made when we read our bible stories, Dr. Levine helped me to realize this is true for myself.  I have read the bible enough that I already know the end of the story, so I skip over some of the details which would challenge me and expose me to assumptions.

Not all of us will be biblical scholars, but each of us can continue to learn what we have learned incorrectly.  Each of us can look with fresh eyes at something with which we have become so familiar.